EU keen to secure an early Mercosur deal

Argentina admits to malnutrition deaths
Buenos Aires (UPI) Feb 7, 2011 - Argentine officials admitted deaths due to malnutrition among the country's poor of indigenous Latin American people and promised government action to minimize the problem. Reports of malnutrition deaths came as results of a study jointly carried out by researchers at London's Imperial College and the University of Harvard in Boston showed Argentina, Chile and Venezuela topped the list of overweight people in Latin America. Critics of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner earlier called for more vigorous measures to pursue the government's poverty reduction programs. The government faced criticism for not doing enough to ease poverty among the country's non-European population.

Gov. Jose Manuel Urtubey of the northern province of Salta said in a television interview at least five children, mostly from indigenous communities, died of malnutrition in 2010 and officials recorded another death this year. Urtubey warned more malnutrition cases might be present in isolated indigenous communities. "Child malnutrition is a latent dramatic situation in the province of Salta," Urtubey said, although he pointed out conditions had improved compared to three years ago when more than 30 children died of hunger or malnutrition annually, MercoPress reported. Reports of the children's deaths were revealed by a non-government organization and passed on to the media. Fatalities included an 18-month-old toddler and a female child, 3, but their deaths were initially attributed to infections.

A third case of another 18-month-old toddler, reported to have died due to "septic shock caused by malnutrition," lifted the lid on malnutrition deaths. The deaths caused uproar in Argentina's media. The Salta and Buenos Aires media quoted the father of one of the toddlers, who said he lost his child on a day when he returned from work in the woods to find there was nothing at hand that he could feed the children. "There are some days when we manage to have a meal and days when we don't," he told the media. "When Leandro died, on that day we had had nothing to eat."

The northern town of Salta, close to Bolivia, has a population of 1.2 million with a significant number of indigenous communities that are exposed to malnutrition, disease and lack of community care. "We have control over 100.000 children in those communities but the latest situation indicates that our efforts are insufficient and there must be more vulnerable population which has no access to aid or support mechanisms," Urtubey said in the interview. The situation becomes worse in summer months when schools close and children are deprived of a hot meal provided by the schools each day. Critics said the school kitchens were underfunded and lacked clean water, as a result of which children frequently suffered from disease.

by Staff Writers
Asuncion, Paraguay (UPI) Feb 8, 2011
EU officials visiting Latin America have given the clearest signal yet they are keen to seal a wide-ranging economic collaboration pact with Mercosur regional trade bloc.

Mercosur member nations' EU partners, initially reluctant because of fear of a flood of cheaper Latin American goods, want the deal signed as soon as possible amid analysts' forecasts that increased trade and economic collaboration between the two sides could lift EU economies out of the recession.

Mercosur member countries recorded high growth trends in 2010.

Even recession-ridden Venezuela hopes to recover from two years of dismal performance with a modest recovery in late 2010 and is seen by EU exporters as a major market for consumer goods, energy sector products and services and manufacturing machinery.

In Chile and Brazil, EU exports are benefiting from strong currencies in the two countries that make European exports attractive.

Mercosur was established in 1991 and includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Venezuela was accepted as a member in 2006 and is in a final stage of integrating into Mercosur. In addition Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru are associate members, Mexico attends as an observer and Egypt and Israel are the bloc's free trade partners.

EU data showed EU-Mercosur trade in 2009 was as much as EU trade with the rest of Latin America taken together. In 2008, the EU was Mercosur's first largest trading partner, representing 20.7 percent of total Mercosur trade and it was the largest investor in Mercosur. Mercosur ranks eighth among EU trading partners, accounting for 2.7 percent of total EU trade in 2009.

The European Union is Mercosur's first market for its agricultural exports, accounting for 19.8 percent of total EU agricultural imports in 2009. EU exports to Mercosur focus largely on industrial products including machinery, transport equipment and chemicals.

EU Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht, visiting Paraguay and Uruguay this week, said in Asuncion he believes the EU will reach a trade agreement with Mercosur because "this is the moment" and both sides are committed to conclude negotiations positively.

"I strongly believe in a trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur. The moment has come and I'm convinced it can be reached," said de Gucht after he met with Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo. Paraguay currently holds Mercosur's rotating leadership.

De Gucht is visiting Mercosur junior members Paraguay and Uruguay with the purpose of advancing negotiations ahead of EU-Mercosur meetings in Brussels in March and May.

The next stage in EU-Mercosur talks would be top of the agenda at a June Mercosur summit in Asuncion.

Paraguayan Foreign Affairs Minister Hector Lacognata said advancing the talks toward a pact was one of the key priorities.

De Gucht said he was "most encouraged by the excellent performance of the Paraguayan economy in 2010" with a 14.5 percent growth.

He said a balanced free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur could bring substantial economic benefits to both sides and contribute to the global economic recovery.

EU and Mercosur resumed trade and association talks in May 2010 after six years of suspension and have since held negotiations in Buenos Aires, Brasilia and Brussels.

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